


Fledgeling (6 years old)

by The_Cecilia_Egg



Series: Paternal Instincts (How to Raise Your Halfling Boys and Navigate Other Disasters) [14]
Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine, Cuphead (Video Game), bendy and boris in the inky mystery - Fandom
Genre: Boris is a Good Uncle, Bullies, Eavesdropping, F/M, Fledglinghood, Growing Up, Parental Discussions, Sensory Overload, Shapeshifting, Stress, Takes place after Inky Mystery, bad day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-04
Updated: 2020-08-04
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:06:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,399
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25711081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Cecilia_Egg/pseuds/The_Cecilia_Egg
Summary: Dante had been incredibly pleased to start real school. He was beside himself with excitement to learn more. The problem?School was single handedly the mostirritatingthing he’d ever faced.
Relationships: Alice Angel/Bendy (Bendy and the Ink Machine)
Series: Paternal Instincts (How to Raise Your Halfling Boys and Navigate Other Disasters) [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1863781
Comments: 4
Kudos: 17





	Fledgeling (6 years old)

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Bendy and Boris in The Inky Mystery](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10726146) by [Mercowe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mercowe/pseuds/Mercowe), [ThisAnimatedPhantom](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThisAnimatedPhantom/pseuds/ThisAnimatedPhantom). 



> This takes place after [ThisAnimatedPhantom's](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThisAnimatedPhantom/pseuds/ThisAnimatedPhantom) and [Mercowe's](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mercowe/pseuds/Mercowe) [Inky Mystery](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10726146/chapters/23768241), an amazing fanfic, which I highly recommend.
> 
> Without further ado...

Dante had been incredibly pleased to start real school. He was beside himself with excitement to learn more. The problem?

School was single handedly the most  _ irritating  _ thing he’d ever faced.

Everything was so  _ slow!  _ He learned faster from reading the books sent from Grandma, Papa, or from Mr. Hat. They were  _ easy _ . Didn’t even have pictures like most of the ones in class. School became a drag, and his teachers didn’t like him ‘showing off’. How was it ‘showing off’ if he knew it? If he knew, shouldn’t he share? Enlighten his peers? Help?

He begged his Mom to go back to homeschooling, but she insisted they needed the added income at the moment. She promised as soon as it was possible, she or Papa would go back to teaching him. Papa was overseas exploring some new grand ruin, so he couldn’t teach him presently.

The school days began to blur together into a whirl of annoyance. Too many emotions, the odd sweetness he caught a whiff of on occasion from the children cowering from bullies. Children were wise enough to leave him alone, since his parents were ‘famous’. Dante was wise enough to hide his tail so some ‘mook’ as Dad said, wouldn’t pull on it.

Today though, today was different.

Dante woke up that morning in a sour mood. Their field trip to the museum of history had been canceled due to the rain, so he wouldn’t get to read all about the exhibits! His mood only worsened when he woke up to find his parents both gone, and Uncle Boris waiting on him. Yes, Dante loved his uncle, very much so. It just wasn’t the same as being walked by him instead of mom.

Uncle Boris didn’t even hug him goodbye, running off to not be late for his own classes. It was then that Dante realized his lunch was at home, and he didn’t have one. He tried to tell his teacher but she hushed him and said class was starting. That he shouldn’t ‘give her lip’. He  _ never  _ gave her a lip! Both were firmly attached to his face, and he would like to keep it that way.

Morning lessons were arithmetic, which was painfully easy. He finished his addition in no time flat and promptly cracked open a book from home. This one had been a gift from ‘Lady Stolas’, whoever she was. Mr. Hat talked about her sometimes. She’d send books through him. Dante hadn’t met her yet but she had to be smart if she gave him this book. It was the first challenge he’d had in a while.

His teacher, however, scolded him for reading it. She took it away from him and told him he needed to turn his work in when he was done. Why? She gave them allotted time for each task. If he finished early, why not use his time as he pleased? Why would it be fair to give him more work while the other kids didn’t get any? Upon asking these, he was sent to the ‘quiet corner’ to ‘think about his words’. 

The more he thought, the more Dante was certain he was right. Why was he being punished for being inquisitive? He’d bet the other kids couldn’t even spell ‘inquisitive’ or much less even tell teacher what it meant! He glared murderously at the ‘quiet corner’, silently willing it to vanish. 

It didn’t.

His mood only worsened come lunch. Dante  _ still _ didn’t have a meal. He went to talk to the teacher but she told him to go to the cafeteria. He tried to explain, but she warned him if his behavior kept up, she’d call his parents. Pouting, he plodded off to the cafeteria. Last thing he wanted to do was call either of them away from work to deal with one of his ‘episodes’ as the principal put it.

He sat hungrily watching the other kids eat happily. Chittering away noisily with their friends. He groaned as their emotions filled his senses. This was more bearable with food but was now just too much. Suffocating. He pulled his sweater over his head, burying his head in his arms. This day couldn’t get any worse!

Predictably, he was wrong. The lunch monitor tapped him on the shoulder informing him ‘hoodies’ were against the rules. Dante didn’t wear hoodies, he wore sweaters. Granny knit most of them for him, not this one, but still the sweet gopher knew how to make comfort portable. He explained it was ‘just a sweater’ but they countered with ‘then you should wear it as one’, confiscating it. 

No way to muffle the noise or emotions, he buried his head back in his arms letting out a cry of frustration. This action immediately got him sent to silent lunch. His stomach growled angrily as he balled his fists up stomping off to the small table. The lunch monitor wouldn’t let him put his head down. He hated all the emotions he was feeling! They weren’t his and they were too much! 

Dante started to tear up, wiping at his eyes. This wasn’t fair! He hadn’t done anything wrong but today was just kicking him over and over. As his eyes grew wet, another misfortune came his way.

“Look, Danny’s crying!” One kid yelled out. Dante turned to the sound of the boy’s voice as the room suddenly grew quiet. “What a sissy!” The boy cackled. Slowly the other children joined in and the room was a chorus of cruel laughter. It wasn’t funny! How was crying funny!? Crying meant sad! He felt an overwhelming surge of joy, while he still felt so  _ awful! _

He stood up, running out the room as the children laughed and jeered, pointing at him as he fled. He  _ hated _ this place  _ so _ much! The young boy ran to the one room where he knew he wouldn’t be yelled at, the library. His favorite place in the whole school. The librarian, Mrs. Parch, was the sweetest lady ever! She let him check out more than the two book limit since he read so fast.

Dante came to a stop in front of the glorious room, dark inside and locked shut when he tried the handle. He felt his little heart drop. No. No, no,  _ no!  _ Of all the days for Mrs. Parch to be absent, it  _ had _ to be today!? He groaned, putting his back to the door curling on himself crying harder. At least he’d have some alone time until having to head back. 

No such luck was on the side of Dante Angel, as teacher saw him in the hall and more or less dragged him back to class. She didn’t stop scolding him the whole way back to the room. He didn’t bother arguing, no point. She’d just get madder and he could feel her rage loud and clear. She took away recess, which didn’t surprise him but made him angrier nevertheless.

As his classmate returned on by one, snickering about ‘what a sissy’ he was and running off to play in the indoor area since it was still raining. His teacher used this time to belittle him and say how ‘disappointed’ in him she was. The woman slapped down three sheets of paper and a pen.

She instructed him he was going to write sentences as his punishment. Fill up every line on all three pages with the phrase ‘I will not misbehave’ in cursive. If he made a mistake, he had to start that page over. Dante started to write but stopped halfway through his first sentence. He hadn’t done anything wrong and wasn’t going to write that he had! He crossed his tiny arms and glared at the page.

Teacher informed him at the end of recess this was now his homework and he had to bring it back signed by  _ both _ of his parents. He sulked at her sharp words as she tucked the papers away in his folder. Well now he couldn’t  _ not _ do it, his parents would know and think he’d been bad! He hadn’t done  _ anything! _

A call came to teacher’s phone when they started history. She stopped the lesson and chatted on the phone for a good bit and Dante felt his stomach twist when she began talking about him. A few of his classmates snickering as his face began to burn. Great, just  _ great! _ Now he wouldn’t even have the chance to explain himself to mom!

Teacher hung up the phone, reporting to Dante that he was being picked up by ‘Mr. Cuphead’. That only elicited a long groan from the boy as he slumped over his desk. Nothing was wrong with Cuphead per say but he much rather would have one of his parents pick him up. Get the scolding out of the way and relax at home happily.

When science rolled around, a glue bottle exploded ruining his favorite vest. Teacher made him take it off and she tried to get the glue off. The glue remained firm and Dante felt his heart crush watching the garment be thrown away. She came back to chide him to be more careful when handling glue and gave him the awful glue sticks. 

His paper solar system was falling apart before teacher could even collect it. It didn’t matter if he cut and colored it perfectly if it wouldn’t stay together. He felt like slamming his head against the table when she collected his ‘incomplete’ assignment. Dante tuned out class for the rest of the day. He wanted to go home already, back to his parents. He hadn’t seen them all day and he really  _ really  _ wanted to. He  _ needed _ to.

When class let out, teacher walked them up front to be picked up. She returned his book and sweater just before they stepped out with a few stern words to follow. He pretended to pay attention just to get his things back. He stuffed both in his bag, since he didn’t want either getting wet from the rain.

Dante was so busy looking for Cuphead, he didn’t see the rude boy from lunch sneaking up behind him. He couldn’t find the cup man in the seas of adults gathering their kids. It wasn’t like he exactly had easy to hide features... The rude boy grabbed his backpack yanking on it hard.

“Whatcha lookin’ for sissy?” Dante let out a hiss, failing wildly to keep his balance to not fall in a puddle. Tail whipping out on pure instinct to help him stay upright. He let out a huff, staying steady. “Why ya gotta tail?” The boy asked loudly, other kids starting to stare.

“Because he’s special.” A rough voice replied. “Any other comments, squirt?” Cuphead growled, arching a brow at the boy. Crossing his arms and leaning over him.

“N-no sir!” The boy yelped. He smelled kinda sweet all of a sudden. Dante wrinkled his nose up at the oddity.

“Thought so.” Cup huffed coldly, then warming back up for Dante. “Ready to go kiddo?”

“Yeah…” He mumbled back, handing his bag to Cuphead as they started down the sidewalk towards home.

“Heard you were havin’ a rough day.” The dish man chuckled lightly. Dante pouted. Guess they were doing this now. Might as well get it over with.

“You could sa-AIEEGH!” Dante broke into a scream as a sharp pain shot up his back. He whipped around to the boy from earlier snickering as he backed up to his friends, each wearing mischief similarly.

“Told ja it’s real.” He giggled into his hands. “ _ Freak.” _ That was it. Dante couldn’t take it anymore as he gnashed his growing fangs together. Vision turning dark, tinting red. He hadn't been so angry before in his life! The other boy walked up to Dante, poorly suppressing his giggles.

“What’s that?” He purred and Dante looked down only to be shoved back into a puddle. The world turned red. Dante. Had.  _ ENOUGH!  _ The three burst out into another set of lively laughter while Cuphead started yelling at them. They only laughed harder as the cup man steamed. Dante slammed a fist into the puddle, his clothes feeling very tight. Their giggles slowly died out as the trio grew small under him. 

Dante couldn’t help but laugh at how small they were all of a sudden. Fear on their features but he couldn’t be bothered to care why. They smelled almost as good as one of Granny’s pies, and his mouth felt cramped all of a sudden. The three miscreants darted away crying as Dante felt his vision swim.

He was still pretty hungry...his stomach growled loudly. Right! He hadn’t eaten anything all day. A heavy weight slammed into his back, keeping his arms tightly by his side in a pathetic imitation of a hug. His tail lashed out to knock away whatever was behind him but it was pinned as well. 

Then exhaustion set in all of a sudden. His eyes drooped and he tipped forwards. Bad days always do take a lot out of you. Dante let out a loud exhale as he fell back.

He really just wanted to go home.

-

Dante woke up bundled up in his room. He couldn’t recall how he got there...the last thing that came to his pounding head was those brats laughing at him. Did he get in a fight? Oh no, that would make Mom sad. She didn’t like fights. The young man pushed himself out of bed and looked in the mirror. He looked...different. 

His clothes looked terribly outstretched. The fabric clinging loosely to his thin frame. His hair looked a bit rougher and longer than he liked to keep it...his tail longer too. Dante frowned at his reflection. If he didn’t know any better...he’d say he even looked taller. He must’ve hit a growth spurt!

Dante slipped into his jammies and crept down the steps hearing hushed voices talk. He froze on the stairs realizing it was an ‘adult’ conversation. The ones he wasn’t supposed to listen too. Mom and Dad always said eavesdropping wasn’t polite...but Aunt Holly said if it was really private, then it wouldn’t be easy to overhear. The latter winning out, he sat on the steps listening.

“I know what I saw.” Cuphead’s voice said sternly. “You need to get him on a contract.”

“No.” Dad said firmly as something slammed onto the table. “He’s way too young for this stardust!”

“You don’t get to choose!” Cuphead snapped sharply. “It’s already started. He’s not a budling anymore! If I wasn’t there, he might have jumped those kids, and for good reason! But it’s not like the Upper cares about reasoning, like we all know. Then what would you two do when they came?” Dante felt his stomach twist. Cuphead was making it sound like he did something bad… Did he? He couldn’t remember.

“We’d…” Dad began, but his voice died out.

“Exactly.” Cuphead said firmly. “You don’t know. Neither of you do.” Mom hadn’t said anything but Dante could hear her crying softly. Why was she crying? What did he  _ do!? _

“He’s  _ so  _ young.” She whispered. “ _ Too _ young.”

“Feathers,” Now Cuphead sounded a lot softer “I’m not saying we throw Dante into the pits. Stars no! I’m saying we find him a mentor to teach him about this side of himself. Bendy can’t. You can’t. Not even I can but so much.” He sighed. “As much as I can’t stand him, Hat might be your best option here. He  _ is _ willing to negotiate, you know that one Bends.” Dad made a gagging noise. 

Mr. Hat had always been nice to Dante before. One of the few people that could understand him when he was little. Sure, he felt cold and could make some pretty funny faces but other than that, Mr. Hat wasn’t so bad. He even gave him all sorts of interesting books to read, provided Mom and Dad cleared them first.

“What happens if we don’t...get a mentor, contractor, whatever it is.” Mom sounded desperate. Desperate and sad. Dante felt worse. He made her and dad feel like that all because he was having a bad day. He hung his head.

“He could frenzy like he did today but lose himself. Possibly go beastly and kill a lot of people.” A pause. “That’s all worst case scenario, mind you.”

“What if we get him to release his magic? Like you and Mugs used to do with me?” Dad spoke up.

“He has a halo, Bends. It’s literally made for storing magic.” Cuphead sighed.

“He’s right.” Mom muttered. “Do...Do we need to decide tonight?”

“No.” Cuphead replied. “I’ll hang around until you two come to a choice, just to be safe. I can handle the little guy should push come to shove. I will say this...his transformation was kinda odd.”

“Odd how?” Dad pressed. Dante was so confused. He had no  _ idea _ what they were talking about. This didn’t sound like a schoolyard fight.

“He changed back shortly after I grabbed him. No chasing after the kids, or really fighting back. He passed out and changed back a few moments later. It was obviously some kinda stress or anger, maybe both, who knows?” Dante knew he had been upset and angry. The whole day had been awful! Why wouldn’t he?

“He just...changed back?” Dad mused in awe. “That’s good right?” Some fabric rustled downstairs.

“I dunno. I mean, he never went to attack anyone. I’ve never seen a frenzying demon act like that before...but-”

“He’s half angel.” Mom cut in. The room grew quiet for a moment. “That may have stopped him from fully losing it.”

“Really?” Dad asked.

“I don’t know.” Mom sighed. “I’d have to ask my parents...but I may opt for Jake. He won’t tattle if I ask nicely.” Mom chuckled softly. Dante liked Jake. He was always nice and didn’t talk bad about Dad when he didn’t think anyone could hear him. He was a real angel, like Mom.

“So for right now, we just wait and see.” Cuphead sighed. “I can offer rent while I stay here. I’ll have to figure something out for-”

“Oh, no no!” Mom quickly interrupted. “We couldn’t ask that! We already planned on you staying-”

“For a couple days.” Cuphead cut in. “Not possibly weeks, maybe months... I don’t mind, really. I can keep an eye on Dante while you two talk it out. It’s your choice, you’re his parents.”

Dante rested his head in his hands. He messed up and now his parents were upset about it. He tried really  _ really _ hard to not ‘sass’ teacher. He still failed to see how pointing out facts was ‘sass’. All his good behavior up in the air because he got mad at some dumb bullies.

He sniffed softly, a few fat tears slipping down his tiny cheeks. He didn’t want Mom to be sad or Dad to be mad. Mom got sad a lot when grandma and grandpa came around, even though she tried to hide it. Dad always got mad at them, which he hid too. 

Mom didn’t get mad, she got sad. 

Dad didn’t get sad, he got mad.

Maybe it was only fitting Dante felt both. He went to head back up stairs and met a dark pair of gentle eyes looking at him. He’d been caught. Uncle Boris just smiled softly, picking him up and walking back to his room. He carefully tucked him back into bed, placing a kiss on his forehead.

“Tomorrow's problems, for tomorrow us.” His smile stretched as he ruffled his nephew's dark locks. “Tomorrow will be better, and it’s only a day away.” He winked.

“Okay.” Dante whispered watching his uncle walk out and crack the door. He grabbed Finn and curled up in his blankets. Finn, faithful as ever, hugged him back. Sometimes...moments like these...he really wished Finn could talk. It was a shame he couldn’t, even if Dante liked to pretend he could.

“What am I going to do, Finn?” The pulshie’s button eyes gleamed at him. “I guess you’re right.” He hummed, curling up with the stuffed fox. “Just have to listen to Uncle Boris. Tomorrow will be better,” He stared up out the window into the night sky “it has to be.”


End file.
